Delivered
Exodus 12:40-41
I. Delivered From Slavery 12:40-41
After 430 years in Egypt, God sent Moses to demand their freedom. When Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to what God had to say, the Lord sent plagues upon them.....
The plague of blood, the frogs, lice, flies, the plague on the cattle, boils and blains, hail, locust, darkness........and with each one of these Pharaoh only hardened his heart, and refused to obey the Lord......
The devil will fight tooth, and nail to keep people in bondage.
Yet the final plague would break Pharaoh’s grip, and the people would be granted freedom.
It took the blood ! Exodus 12
Not just any sacrifice would do........had to be a male lamb of the first year, and could have no blemishes......had to be perfect.
The lamb was killed before the entire congregation, and the blood was placed on the two side posts of the door, and on the upper post. Those who had the blood applied were spared, and safe !
It was through the blood........and is still today by the blood that we are delivered !
Zig Ziglar wrote about the famous escape artist, Harry Houdini. Houdini boasted that he could escape from any jail cell in the country. Frequently, he demonstrated his ability to just that, but once something went wrong. When the heavy door clanged shut, Houdini pulled out a piece of thin metal that had been concealed in his belt and started to pick the lock. For thirty minutes, he worked on the lock, but couldn’t get it open. An hour passed, he was bathed in sweat, but he still couldn’t pick the lock. Two hours went by, and he finally collapsed in frustration against the door he could not open. But, when he fell against the door, it swung open. It had never been locked! In his mind it was locked, and that’s all it took to keep him “locked” in and frustrated. The bondage and imprisonment resulting from sin, isn’t quite like Houdini’s jail cell, but it is very much like the imprisonment of the mind. Jesus knew that there is something about the truth that is freeing. His concern was specifically freedom from sin, and truth about himself. Jesus frees people from sin.
The Christian Declaration of Independence
I am free from failure for "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Phil.4:13
I am free from want for "my God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" Phil:4:19
I am free from fear for "God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2Tim1:7
I am free from doubt for "God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Rom. 12:3
I am free from weakness, "the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Ps.27:1
I am free from the power of Satan "because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." 1Jn.4:4
I am free from defeat "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." 2Cor.2:14
I am free from ignorance, "for Christ Jesus is made unto me wisdom from God." 1Cor.1:30
I am free from sin "for the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth me from all sin." 1Jn.1:7
I am free from worry "for I am to cast my cares upon Him." 1Pet.5:7
I am free from bondage "for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2Cor.3:17
I am free from condemnation, "for there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:1I am free from condemnation, "for there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:1
II. Delivered To Serve 7:16
*Note that this same purpose is stated 5 other times.
8:1,20 9:1,13, 10:3
Now that deliverance had been achieved.......what were the people to do ? Do their own thing........go their own way ?
No.......the deliverance was just the beginning of God’s plan.
They were delivered from slavery, and delivered to serve !
In Egypt, the children of Israel were servants of Pharaoh.......they could only be servants of the Lord outside of Egypt.......they had to be delivered from bondage before they could properly, and effectively serve the Lord.
If you are saved, God has saved you.......delivered you.......set you free........so that you might serve !
From Chuck Swindoll’s book......."Improving Your Serve"
"To make the value of obedience just a practical as possible, let’s play ’Let’s Pretend.’ Let’s pretend that you work for me. In fact, you are my executive assistant in a company that is growing rapidly. I’m the owner and I’m interested in expanding overseas. To pull this off, I make plans to travel abroad and stay there until a new branch office gets established. I make all the arrangements to take my family and move to Europe for six to eight months. And I leave you in charge of the busy stateside organization. I tell you that I will write you regularly and give you directions and instructions. I leave and you stay.
Months pass. A flow of letters are mailed from Europe and received by you at the national headquarters. I spell out all my expectations.
Finally, I return. Soon after my arrival, I drive down to the office and I am stunned. Grass and weeds have grown up high. A few windows along the street are broken. I walk into the Receptionist’s room. She is doing her nails, chewing gum and listening to her favorite disco station. I look around and notice the wastebaskets are overflowing. The carpet hasn’t been vacuumed for weeks, and nobody seems concerned that the owner has returned. I asked about your whereabouts and someone in the crowded lounge area points down the hall and yells, "I think he’s down there." Disturbed, I move in that direction and bump into you as you are finishing a chess game with our sales manager. I ask you to step into my office, which has been temporarily turned into a television room for watching afternoon soap operas.
"What in the world is going on, man?"
"What do you mean, Mike ?
"Well, look at this place! Didn’t you get any of my letters?"
"Letters? Oh yes! Sure! I got every one of them. As a matter of fact, Mike, we have had a letter study every Friday night since you left. We have even divided the personnel into small groups to discuss many of the things you wrote. Some of the things were really interesting. You will be pleased to know that a few of us have actually committed to memory some of your sentences and paragraphs. One or two memorized an entire letter or two - Great stuff in those letters."
"OK. You got my letters. You studied them and meditated on them; discussed and even memorized them. But what did you do about them?"
"Do? We didn’t do anything about them."
III. Delivered To Solemnize 5:1
" ......Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness."
The children of Israel were delivered from slavery so that they might serve, and so that they also might "solemnize". That is what "keeping a feast" means. It was a very serious occassion, but was also a time of celebration, and worship.
God takes very serious the matter of worship. He longs for his children to worship him. The children of Israel could not truly worship him in Egypt......so he set them free that they might be able to.
God has delivered you, and I so that we might worship him !
God delivered his people so that they could keep a feast. The feast was a time of celebration, and solemnization.
They could not truly honor God........worship God.......celebrate God in the land of Egypt. God set them free so that they could celebrate by worshipping him.
Are you really worshipping he who has delivered you ?
Story: Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante defended himself by saying, "If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing."
We Have Come Into His House
We have come into His house and gathered in His name to worship Him.
We have come into His house and gathered in His name to worship Him.
We have come into His house and gathered in His name to worship Christ the Lord.
Worship Him, Christ the Lord!
So forget about yourself and concentrate on Him and worship Him.
So forget about yourself and concentrate on Him and worship Him.
So forget about yourself and concentrate on Him and worship Chirst the Lord.
Worship Him, Christ the Lord!
Let us lift up holy hands and magnify His name and worship Him.
Let us lift up holy hands and magnify His name and worship Him.
Let us lift up holy hands and magnify His name and worship Christ the Lord.
Worship Him, Christ the Lord!
IV. Delivered To Sacrifice 5:3
"........let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God;"
The Lord delivered his people from Egypt so that they might offer sacrifices unto him.
If God has delivered you from bondage.......if you have been saved by the blood of the Lamb, then he calls upon you for sacrifice. It is not the sacrifice of animals that God expects from you, and I, but it is the giving of our selves as a living sacrifice that he desires.
Imagine four Army chaplains during an icy storm at sea; four men in uniform holding hands as they gaze over the rail of their sinking vessel. They are watching lifeboats pulling away from their reeling ship, the U.S. transport Dorchester. The story of these chaplains is a remarkable account of love and sacrifice.
The scene takes place February 3, 1943, off the southern tip of Greenland. The winter night covers the ship like a blanket. Most of the 909 aboard ship are asleep below the decks.
Suddenly the Dorchester jerks and shudders. A German torpedo has smashed through her starboard side! In a raging torrent, the sea spurts through the gaping wound. The Dorchester has been dealt a mortal blow. She is sinking.
An order is given to abandon ship. Aboard the dying vessel, men -- many of them injured -- search frantically for life jackets. Some stand in shock, not knowing how to react to the catastrophe.
Amidst the chaos stand four pillars of strength, four Army chaplains:
George Fox, Alexander Goode, Clark Poling and John Washington. They calm the panic-stricken, help the confused search for life jackets and aid the soldiers into the lifeboats swinging out from the tilting deck.
When no more jackets can be found, each chaplain takes off his own and straps it onto a soldier who has none. The lifeboats pull slowly away from the doomed vessel. Only 299 will finally survive this night.
Those men paid the ultimate sacrifice........God is asking that we live for him a sacrificial life. He is asking that we give of him our time, our talents, and our treasures !
V. Delivered To Settle 6:5-8
God not only delivered them from a place, but he delivered them to a place. Those who came out of Egypt were to inherit the promised land which had been promised to their forefathers.
Those who have been delivered by Christ have a place not made with hands. We have a place in heaven where one day we shall reside !
Christ came to die on the cross for our deliverance. He ascended back to the Father to make ready a place for us !
